Collective Soul comes to Soaring Eagle Friday

Published 6:30 am, Thursday, October 2, 2014

In 1994, Collective Soul released the album “Hints, Allegations and Things Left Unsaid” featuring the smash single “Shine.”

Now, 20 years and seven No. 1 singles later, the band is preparing to launch a ninth effort, “See What You Started by Continuing.”

However, there are a few more things to take care of before its release. Notably to area residents, the band will perform on Friday, Oct. 3, at Soaring Eagle Casino in Mount Pleasant.

Collective Soul’s songs have resonated with audiences, proven by a string of successful singles. But frontman Ed Roland didn’t necessarily see himself as a singer, he said in a phone interview with the Daily News.

“All I ever wanted to do was write music,” he said. “I sort of became the singer by default.”

Roland moved from Georgia to Boston to study music at Berklee College of Music. He made it back to the South and worked as a producer at a music studio while also playing and writing music in the Atlanta scene. The inaugural album was simply a collection of Roland’s songwriting demos, but the band broke out when “Shine” became a hit on college radio throughout the region. This drew the attention of Atlantic Records.

The follow-up album, “Collective Soul,” was an enormous hit, reaching triple platinum status. Three tracks, “December,” “Where the River Flows” and “The World I Know” reached No. 1 status. It’s the band’s most successful album and clicked with audiences, something Roland credits to good timing.

“Honestly, I have no idea,” he said when asked the reasons for that album’s massive success. “I think I’ve written way better songs than that since then.”

The success was, however, validation for Roland and the band. “I think it builds your confidence.”

Since then, Roland and the band have set out on each album to top the previous effort. That drive is what has kept Collective Soul going for two decades. Each effort has to be better than the last; the band has to like it first and foremost before putting it out to the public.

“I think we’re a better band that we’ve ever been and I think this new record is the best record we’ve ever done,” he said.

The business has also changed during the band’s tenure. Before, it took a major label, television or some traditional form of media to draw the public’s attention to music. Now, fans have many ways to discover music.

“I think it’s exciting today. You have music at your fingertips. You can stream and see what you like,” Roland said. However, it is also hard to stand out.

“We’re blessed in a sense that we had a brand before this all started,” he said.

The upcoming album is a collection of the band’s best recent new writings, Roland said. He doesn’t really set aside a block of time to write music, the inspiration just comes when it does. However, a hectic 2014 has led to delays for the new record, something Roland hopes to avoid in the future.

“It became a really haphazard kind of year,” he said of the band’s recent schedule. The band recorded the album here and there between touring. In addition, playing some of the new songs live led the band to want to rerecord some tracks, leading to delays. (Expect Collective Soul to take a real break from touring the next time an album needs recording.)

So far, response to the new tracks is positive at concerts, Roland said. But fans can expect to hear a wide range of the band’s catalog Friday.